


Merry-Go-Round and Round

by pyalgroundblz (acidtonguejenny)



Category: Bleach
Genre: Gen, Implied Relationships, Multi, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-22
Updated: 2012-04-22
Packaged: 2017-11-04 02:29:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/388696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acidtonguejenny/pseuds/pyalgroundblz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They meet him in the little playground down the block from his family's home on a dry, summer day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Merry-Go-Round and Round

They meet him in the little playground down the block from his family's home on a dry summer day. Rukia had made certain to bring the rice balls he loved. They sit, carefully wrapped, by her hip on the merry-go-round. 

He's not due to appear for another few minutes, and in the meantime she watches Renji like a hawk, least he spin her off her perch. For the moment, he's busy cursing the wind that's broken a dust cloud against him.

Her ears, tuned for it, catch the sound of running feet. She sits up, eyes shining and expectant and fixed on the gate. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Renji look up as he rounds the corner, and both shinigami grin.

"Oi! Ichi! Ain't you pushing it?"

He's panting. "What? No! I'm on time!"

Rukia jumps off the merry-go-round. " _This_ time." She teases.

Ichigo bristles, folds his arms in a pout. He's not quite as good at it as his baby sisters are, but he's pretty sure his secret friends don't know that. It would suck if they did.

Renji grabs up two long, sturdy sticks that had been set aside and tosses one to Ichigo, grinning. "Man up," he orders, falling into a ready stance. "Maybe you'll get me this time."

Ichigo snaps obediently to attention. He gulps, and examines the makeshift shinai in his hand hesitantly.

Rukia smiles and calls out to him.

"Don't worry Ichigo, I believe you in."

Renji laughs and Ichigo beams, pure sunshine. He mirrors Renji's posture, and they begin.

Rukia settles back to spectate, munching contentedly on the rice balls as her boys dart around the playground. Their sticks make alarmingly loud cracks when they strike, but the sound has become familiar--it doesn't startle her anymore, though the moaning undertones still tug at her. That, however, she doesn't expect to change. 

She only realizes how much time has passed when last of the rice balls are gone and Ichigo's water bottle has been emptied. 

Rukia is biting her lip, unwilling to draw Ichigo's attention to the late hour, when a woman appears at the gate.

She's tall, and pretty. She leans around as she peers through the summer haze, and her face lights up as her eyes find Ichigo. And when she speaks, her voice is birdsong. "Ichigo! It's dinnertime baby. Have you been out here by yourself all day?"

Suddenly shy, Ichigo looks back to the shinigami through his bangs, cheeks bright. He mumbles, "Bye," and darts for his mother. 

She pulls him in to her hip in a hug, and they disappear around the high wall together. The shinigami can hear their fading, happy chatter.

Rukia leans into Renji, and he tightens an arm around her shoulders. She graciously doesn't point out how his hands shake, or the too-fast heartbeat she can feel through his side.

"Just one more. We're on the final lap." She says, trying to show him a comforting smile. She squeezes the hanging fingers at her shoulder.

He holds her hard for a moment, and then goes to retrieve Ichigo's practice stick from where it had been dropped. In his hand it's form grows mercurial, liquid. He gives it a hard shake, and it settles into the shape of a battered Zangetsu. 

Rukia watches, solemn, as he pushes it into his sash beside Zabimaru. 

Renji looks up, holding her eyes. He appears distinctly unhappy. 

"Reincarnation is a bitch," he rasps.

Rukia smiles, but her heart isn't in it. She says, "I know."

**Author's Note:**

> This is an tweaked version of an older fic, posted [here](http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5538155/1/One_More_Turn) :)


End file.
